


Without Music

by Scarlet_Paradox



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bartender Levi, College, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Illnesses, M/M, Multiple chapters, Smut, Student Eren, There's gonna be music references/titles named after songs, switching POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-12 16:17:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1191669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Paradox/pseuds/Scarlet_Paradox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I couldn’t tell you how it started.<br/>I’ve gone over it so many times in my head and I assume the best place to start is the beginning. I was twenty-three, and late for work. Something I never was, was late. People could say a lot about me, that I am short (I dare you to say that one to my face), that I am cold, that I am an asshole, that I am quick to anger, that I am fucking OCD as hell, but one thing nobody could call me is late. For some reason that day though, I was and it changed my life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without Music

**Author's Note:**

> BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME BITCH! But seriously, I have not updated this fic in 3 FUCKING YEARS. I could write a book about everything that has happened between then and now and why I have not updated, but I won't bore you all with that. As you may have noticed I decided to start over, I am now in college and an ENGLISH MAJOR of all things! After reading my work from so long ago, I saw too my plot holes too many things I wanted changed so I decided to just start over! If this is your first time reading then welcome! If you're an old fan A) Thanks for sticking around! I truly love you for it and B) I hope the new story is just as good! As always I'm a slut for comments, and feedback is always welcomed :) I am sticking with the song themed idea also!

I couldn’t tell you how it started.

I’ve gone over it so many times in my head and I assume the best place to start is the beginning. I was twenty-three, and late for work. Something I never was, was late. People could say a lot about me, that I am short (I dare you to say that one to my face), that I am cold, that I am an asshole, that I am quick tempter, that I am fucking OCD as hell, but one thing nobody could call me is late. For some reason that day though, I was. The power had gone out the night before, it had come back on before the morning but my alarm clock had been reset during that time. I was rushing down the street, bobbing and weaving through people, with much longer legs going much fucking slower than I was. I was already wearing my light gray button down, and black tight jeans ready for my bartending job.

“Fuck.” I swore out loud.

I was stuck at a crosswalk, and I impatiently tapped my foot waiting for the light to change. I knew Erwin wouldn’t care, I had been working for him, officially, since the day I turned twenty-one and never had I once been late, so I think he would understand this once. For the life, I me I still can’t believe that Erwin had put so much faith in a little shit like me at that point in my life. I was broke, out on my own, with no credible job experience and not even a roof over my head. I went to his bar to spend my last dollar on a cheap shot. I never intended to go to Erwin’s bar specifically, people knew me at the other bars but Erwin could see that at the time I was still clearly under drinking age and refused to serve me. Long story short I starting with stocking, then waiting tables, and finally I am now the head bartender and do a damn good job.  
The street was loud, buzzing with other people also trying to get to their destination. As soon the cross-walk sign lit up green I practically ran across the street. Suddenly I’m on my back halfway across the road. Of course, today has it out to fuck me royally up the ass and a silver SUV comes out of nowhere and shot me halfway across the road. I don’t remember anything about it happening. I stare blindly up at the sky, when a small blonde woman comes into sight.

“OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY?” She screams in my face.

Her voice was soft even as she was yelling. Her features were small, but she had stunningly large blue eyes. Just looking at her gave me a fucking cavity. Honestly, I couldn’t even feel anything until the woman knelt and tried to help me up. She held my arm and pain radiated through my body. It consumed me, and my vision went white. “Holy fuck” I hissed, and the woman halted immediately. “Don’t worry, I’m calling an ambulance.” I hear another voice say, this one a little deeper and out of my line of vision. I felt sleep pulling at my eyes, but in the back of my mind I knew that I still had work and that the middle of the fucking street was not the place to take a nap.  
“The ambulance will be here any minute.” The blonde told me, she had my hand in hers and I could tell she was trying to keep herself grounded from the shake in her voice.  
It felt like years that I was laying there, thinking only in half thoughts and broken sentences. Finally, I could hear the wailing of the sirens getting closer. I started up at the sky, not caring about the commotion going on around me. It felt like time stood still. I started reflecting on my life, I was only twenty-three and here I was, taken out by a car trying to get to work. When reflecting on my life, that was a very anticlimactic ending when you think of all the shitty situations I have managed to escape with my life before now. Somehow, I could form the coherent thought that since the ambulance was there I was free to let sleep take over. Having nothing to force me to keep my heavy eyelids open, I let the darkness envelop me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I felt like I was swimming. I was consumed by darkness. I could hear vague noises, shuffling of feet, faint voices. It sounded far away, but was getting closer and clearer by the minute until finally I could make out distinct sounds such as conversations, doctors being called over intercoms, and people moving around different speeds. I could hear, I was alert as far as that sense was concerned but now if I could get my eyes to get on the same page we’d be fucking fantastic. I felt the pain slowly coming back, but duller this time. It was a watered-down version of the hell I had been in just a few hours prior. I fought with my eyelids for a good thirty seconds before I could get them open, at first, I was blinded by clean bright white. I blinked until I adjusted to the light, and then a few more times to get my vision to correct itself.

“Fuck me” I said starting at the white ceiling

“Well I’d at least take you to dinner first” The voice was unexpected, I turned to look in the corner of the tiny E.R room to see a brunette woman with thick glasses, borderline goggles, and the eyes of a madman staring at me. I honestly would have thought a psyche patient had gotten loose if it weren’t for the white lab coat telling me her name and title. “You took quite a nasty spill, but your tests came back fine except for a mild concussion and some scraps. You’ll definitely be sore for the next few days so take it easy.” She continued, I fought to truly grasp the word she was throwing at me so quickly. I assume she saw me struggling to understand the depth of her words. The woman was taller than I was I could already tell, she had olive skin and her eyes were an exciting shade of hazel. “You’re feeling groggy, right? Things a little slow? That’s the concussion. You should be back to normal in a few days. I’m Dr. Zoe by the way, but Hanji is fine.” She spoke a little slower this time, and thankfully I could keep up. “I’m going to give you something for the pain, and since your tests are fine you’ll be out of here in no time!” Dr. Zoe said.

The whole time she was talking to me she was also frantically writing things down in a file. Thus far even if I had been aware enough to say something, I couldn’t get a word in edge wise. I tried to sit up a little more in the bed, but quickly my back erupted with pain shooting up my spine. “Ah!” I said, wincing and dropping back down to my original position. “Oh, be careful sweetie, you’ve got some nasty road rash back there” She said, turning to face me. “I must say shorty you look familiar. Are you downtown often?” Dropping her pen and paper to quickly walk up to the bed I was laying in. This time she paused after speaking so that I could have a chance to respond. “Yeah, I work at Wings of Freedom on Court Street.” I said, rubbing head which was starting to hurt like a bitch. “Oh! I go there a lot with some of my friends, so I’ll probably be seeing you around more often huh?” Dr. Zoe said, smiling at me like a maniac. “Uh huh, whatever. Anyway, when can I get out of this hell hole?” I asked, I could basically feel the germs breeding on me.

“Well now that your awake we need one more round of tests, get you some painkillers, and you’re free to go Mr. Ackerman!” She exclaimed. She basically ran out of the room, without so much as a warning.

After waking up everything seemed to move both really fucking fast but also excruciatingly slow at the same time. I looked around the small room I had been placed in. It was just a standard E.R room really, a counter sat in the corner holding an assortment of medical supplies on top. I looked beside me to see I was hooked up to a small and simple i.v. The room had no windows, just a door leading to the hall in the corner. I was subjected to more tests to make sure I didn’t have permanent damage, they also showed me how to change the dressings on my back. I was instructed on how often and how many painkillers to take and after 2 long hours I was finally discharged to leave. “Do you have anyone that can come pick you up? You should be driving, or walking home alone in your condition” Dr. Zoe said as I filled out my release papers at the front desk of the Emergency Room. “I’m fine.” I said, not looking up from the forms.

“I can’t just let you leave like this!”

“Well you’re gonna have to, four eyes.”

“That’s not a very nice way to speak to someone who saved your life now is it?”

“I’d hardly say you saved my life, like you said I’m fine.”

“Find someone to take you home or I’ll keep you here to run human experiments on.” She said, in a voice that was too serious for my liking. “Fine. I’ll call a fucking cab, happy?” I said with a sigh. “Extremely!” She added with a cheery smile. Before she could say anything else her phone rang loudly in her pocket. Picking it up, reading it for a second she looked at me and said, “Well there’s a kid that need a broken nose reset, so don’t hesitate to call if you start feeling worse!” and off she ran without another word.  
Looking around the plain waiting room, I tried to search for the cleanest spot to call for a cab to take me home. There were quite a few people in the waiting room, most of them looking absolutely germ ridden and filthy. I was in a small hallway between the waiting room, and the front desk. The room I had been in for the past to hours was just a couple feet away. I had not seen anyone go in it and so I decided to step back in to call a cab instead of risking my health with the pigs in the waiting room. I quickly ducked back into the plain white room, closing the door behind me.

“I’m guessing you’re not the doctor?”

The voice came from behind me, and dammit it made me jump. I had not seen anyone come into this room but in the very bed I had just been in hours prior now sat some stranger. I looked him over. He had brown shaggy hair, it wasn’t necessarily unkept at least it had seen a bush at some point. The boy, that’s what he was no more than a kid, had olive skin and a thin framed face. All around he was pretty plain expect for his eyes. They were a color I couldn’t describe if my life depended on it. One second they were so blue you could swim in them, the next they were almost so green it was like walking through a field. Mostly they fell in between and made this beautiful turquoise I had never even dreamt of before but would be all I dream about from now on. His eyes held this determination, even as he laid in a hospital bed facing some stranger. He looks perfect, except for the i.v sticking out of his arm into a bag of solution next to him.

“Holy fuck kid, you scared the shit out of me.” I said, eloquently as ever.

“I scared you? This is my room.” He said, cocking his head to the side and honestly, I couldn’t argue with that. He gave a look of confusion, but there was something else there. I couldn’t put my finger on it. “I thought it was empty, I just need to call a cab.” I said, fishing my phone out of my pocket trying to avoid those damn eyes at all cost. I went to make the call but my phone screen was black, no matter how many times I tried turning it on, nothing. “Fuck” I swore, quietly to myself. “Wanna borrow mine?” He asked, with his hand stretched out holding his phone towards me as though he was in the kind of situation on the daily. “Thanks.” I said, taking his phone from him. I was able to get a cab sent, but it would be another 30 minutes before they arrived. After the call ended, I handed him his phone back. He stared at me for what felt like an eternity. Now that I apparently had nothing but time to look at this kid I moved from his face a noticed what he was wearing. He was wearing a “Shiganshina High” t-shirt, plain dark jeans, and some wore out Converse.

“The fuck are you looking at, kid?” I asked, harsher than I meant but as always, I didn’t care.

“I don’t even get a name from the stranger that just barged into my room, borrowed my phone, and has borderline insulted me at every turn so far?” The stranger said, slight anger flickering in his eyes. I guess he had a point, though I didn’t want to admit it. “No you don’t. Don’t trust strangers.” I said simply, seeing how far I could push this kid. “I don’t think I’m the stranger, this is my room.” He said pointedly. “ _Touché little fucker_ ” I thought to myself. I stared at him, making it apparently that I had no intention in telling him my name or continuing this conversation in anyway. Honestly, I probably could wait outside for my cab, since I had called one there was really no reason to be here in the first place. I turned on my heel to walk out the door, but the sound of his voice stopped me once more.

“My name is Eren.”

It was a simple sentence really. It sounded as though he has said it a million times, but for my it was a spark. It ignited something. It was small really, like the first flicker of a lighter. Suddenly, deep down of course, I wanted to know more about this kid. I found myself actually wondering about him. How old was he? Where was he from? Was he seeing anyone? Who was Eren? These thoughts raced by, I gave them no time to be acknowledged by my consciousness really. They were thoughts below the surface, thoughts I was not ready to admit yet. On the surface I was tired, in mild pain, and ready to get the fuck out of that hospital. “I’m Levi” I sighed, showing my annoyance full force.  
“Well, Levi since I let you borrow my phone which you would have been completely screwed without I think I deserve something in return, yeah? You don’t just get something for nothing.” Eren said, with a slight grin, and a mischievous look in those turquoise

“Alright. What the fuck do you want?”

“Your number”

“ _What the actual fuck was wrong with this kid._ ” I turned around from where I had been facing the door and looked at him. His face was completely serious, he had a shit eating grin and I tried to ignore that light red dusting his cheeks. So, he wasn’t a complete badass after all. “Why would you want that?” I asked dumbly. “Why not?” He said, I could tell that between my stare and harsh words he was losing his wit. I honestly wouldn’t have minded sitting there and watching the brat squirm a bit, but I had already has enough human interaction for one day. “Fine.” I said shortly. “Really?” Eren said, surprise painted all over his face. He carried his emotions so openly.

  
“If your bratty ass starts sending me a million texts a day, I swear I’ll track you down and kick your ass.” I said, as I put my number in his phone he had handed me during my sentence. I created a contact, put my name and throwing his phone back at him. “Bratty, huh? How old do you think I am?” He asked, sounding slightly offended. “Just don’t blow my phone up, kid.” I said before turning and leaving the room without answering his question.

  
I walked out of his room and down the hall to the automatic double door exits. I leaned against the wall, looking at my watch. I still had fifteen minutes before my cab was going to be there. I sighed and reflected on the recent events of the day. I couldn’t make this shit up. In one day, I had been hit by a fucking car, and hit ON by a teenager. My life had never been a boring one by any means, but it had been a while since I had a day quite this dramatic. Little did I know at the time that, that was truly just the beginning. Nobody tells you beforehand “Hey listen up! Your life is about to change forever.”, there aren’t any signs. I never really sat back and thought of my life that often, I has realized that shit happens to everyone and you can’t spend your life wasting away thinking about it all the time. I was just living at that time. At the time, I didn’t think about it, but really that was the first day of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is HunterxHunterPosts feel free to follow me and leave feedback there :)


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